Shelving units with rolling shelves



Sept. 3, 1968 H. M. BUCHBINDER ET AL 3,399,784

SHELVING UNITS WITH ROLLING SHELVES Filed Aug. 1, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1n u [I a U v u a a j g c g n [I g n u D n n E 3 n u 42 u I I ee z 3 L T16 z' INVENTOPS 'YHenryMfilzc'hbindaP Robert J Wier H r 4/ Sept. 3, 1968C B D ET AL 3,399,784

SHELVING UNITS WITH ROLLING SHELVES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1, 1966IN VENTOBS Hen M.

'1 B0 erf J. Winsleruzig M CHEW United States Patent 3,399,784 1SHELVING UNITS WITH ROLLING SHELVES Henry M. Buchbiuder, Olympia Fields,Ill., and Robert J. Winsler, Elkton, Ky., assignors to Ardco, Inc.,Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Aug. 1, 1966, Ser. No.569,178 4 Claims. (Cl. 211151) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE supporting thewheels of empty shelves for return move-,

ment in the opposite direction relative to the direction of movement ofthe shelves on said side rails, and means supporting said return railsat an inclined angle but sloping oppositely relative to said side rails.

This invention relates to shelving units, particularly such units whichare employed for holding merchandise which is on display for sale instores or the like.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedshelving unit having shelves which are constructed and arranged so thatthey will roll forwardly by gravity to the front of the shelving unit,whereby merchandise on the shelves will be fully accessible to thecustomers.

A further object is to provide such a new and improved shelving unit inwhich the shelves are provided with wheels or rollers which are arrangedto travel along a pair of side rails.

Another object is to provide a new and improved shelving unit of theforegoing character in which the side rails are inclined forwardly sothat the shelves will roll to the front of the shelving unit by gravity.

A further object is to provide such a new and improved shelving unitwhich may have a plurality of pairs of side rails at differentelevations for supporting successive tiers of shelves.

Another object is to provide such a new and improved shelving unit inwhich a plurality of shelves may be mounted on each pair of side rails,so that the successive shelves will move to the front of the shelvingunit by gravity when the shelf in the front of the unit is emptied andremoved from the rails.

It is another object to provide such a new and improved shelving unit inwhich a stop or detent is provided for temporarily holding each shelf atthe rear of the shelving unit, so that the shelf may be loadedconveniently from the rear, the arrangement being such that the shelf isreleasable from the stop or detent for movement toward the front of theshelving unit.

A further object is to provide such a new and improved shelving unitwhich is provided with a pair of return rails for returning the emptyshelves to the rear of the shelving unit.

.Another object is to provide such anew and improved shelving unit inwhich the return rails are inclined to the rear so that the. emptyshelves will roll by gravity along the return rails toward the rear ofthe shelving unit.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear fromthe following description, taken with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

ice

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a shelving unit to bedescribed as an illustrative embodiment of the present invention,certain parts being broken away and other parts being shown in detachedpositions for clarity of illustration.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken through the shelvingunit of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section, taken generally along the line3-3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken generally along the line 4-4 inFIG. 3.

It will be seen that the drawings illustrate a shelving unit 10 which iswell adapted for holding merchandise to be displayed for sale in storesor the like. The shelving unit is particularly advantageous for thedisplay of refrigerated merchandise behind display doors which aremounted on a cooler or cabinet. Such merchandise includes milk, eggs,cheese, butter and other similar refrigerated products which arecommonly displayed for sale in a dairy case or cabinet, and frozen foodsof various kinds which are usually displayed in a separate lowtemperature case or cabinet. In such display arrangements, the customerhas access to the merchandise by opening the vertical display doors,which are fitted with transparent panels so that the merchandise will beclearly visible to the customer. Such display doors are well known tothose skilled in the art and are disclosed, for example, in Patent No.2,987,782, patented June 13, 1961.

The illustrated shelving unit 10 comprises a plurality of shelves 12which are supported by one or more pairs of side rails 14. A pluralityof vertical posts or columns 16 may be employed to support the siderails 14. Four such posts are employed in the illustrated construction.

The illustrated shelves 12 are of the well known grill type made ofwire, but any other suitable type of shelf may be employed. Each of theillustrated shelves 12 has a generally rectangular border frame 18 madeof heavy wire, and a large number of cross members 20 extending acrossthe border frame 18 between the opposite sides thereof. The cross member20 may be made of lighter wire and may be welded or otherwise secured tothe border frame 18.

Each of the illustrated shelves 12 is provided with a plurality ofwheels or rollers 22 which are adapted to ride along the side rails 14.Four such wheels 22 are mounted on each of the illustrated shelves 12.The wheels 22 may be provided with axles 24 in the form of heavy wiresor rods extending across the under side of the border frame 18. Theaxles 24 may be welded or otherwise secured to the border frame 18. Itwill be seen that the cross wires 20 are mounted on the upper side ofthe border frame 18 to support the merchandise which is to be displayed.

To retain the merchandise on the shelf, it is preferred to form eachshelf with one or more rails or guards 26. The illustrated rail 26extends across the front of the shelf to prevent the merchandise fromsliding off the front of the shelf.

To provide a track for supporting the wheels 22, each of the side rails14 is preferably formed with an inwardly projecting generally horizontalflange 28. The main supporting portion of each of the rails 14 is in theform of a vertical flange 30. The horizontal flange 28 projects inwardlyfrom the lower edge of the vertical flange 30. Thus, each rail 14 isgenerally L-shaped in cross section The vertical flange 30 may be formedwith a reinforcing rib 32 which extends along the length of the rail 14.

Suitable means are provided to secure the side rails 14 to the verticalposts or columns 16. In the illustrated construction, each rail 14 isprovided with a plurality of clips or hooks 34 which are adapted to beinserted into the openings or slots 36 formed in the posts 16. Asillustrated, the posts 16 are in the form of hollow metal tubes whichare square or rectangular in cross section. The openings 36 are formedin the side walls 38 of the posts 16. It' is preferred to form the posts16 with a large number of openings 36, which are uniformly spaced atfrequent intervals. This arrangement affords a large selection ofpositions in which the rails 14 may be mounted, so that each pair ofrails may be mounted at virtually any desired elevation. Moreover, aplurality of pairs of rails may be mounted On the same set of fourposts, so as to provide successive tiers of shelves at variouselevations. The spacing between the succesive tiers of shelves may bevaried in accordance with the height of the merchandise which is to bedisplayed.

A pluarlity of the shelving units may be mounted side by side in therefrigerated cabinet or cooler. In that case, the adjacent shelvingunits may be arranged to share a pair of posts 16 at the front and rearof the shelving units.

Floor plates 40 are provided in the illustrated construction to supportthe lower ends of the vertical posts or columns 16. The plates 40 areadapted to be screwed or otherwise secured to the floor of therefrigerated cabinet or cooler. Leveling screws 42 are preferablyprovided between the plates 40 and the lower ends of the posts 16. Theupper end of each post 16 is preferably secured to the ceiling or upperWall of the cabinet or cooler by means of a ceiling flange or bracket44. Thus, the posts 16 are rigidly secured to the cabinet or buildingstructure of the cooler.

To provide additional rigidity, one or more cross bars 46 may beconnected between each pair of posts. In the illustrated construction,one of the cross bars 46 is connected between the rear posts, andanother is connected between the front posts. The cross bars 46 aresuitably secured to the posts 16, as by means of hooks or clips 48,similar to the hooks 34 which are provided on the side rails 14, Thehooks 48 are adapted to be inserted into the openings 36 and moveddownwardly into interlocking engagement with the side walls 38 of theposts 16.

One or more intermediate cross bars 50 may be provided between the siderails 14, to prevent them from spreading or flexing laterally under theweight of the merchandise on the shelves. The cross bars 50 are suitablysecured to the side rails 14, as by means of clips or hooks 52.

The side rails 14 are preferably positioned so that they are inclined tothe front. In this way, the shelves 12 will roll by gravity to the frontof the shelving unit. Only a slight inclination of the side rails 14 isrequired to cause the shelves to roll to the front. Normally, thedesired inclination may be obtained by inserting the hooks 34 at therear end of each side rail 14 into the next higher opening 36 in therear post 16 relative to the opening which is employed in thecorresponding front post.

Means are provided to limit the forward movement of the shelves so thatthey will be prevented from rolling off the front ends of the siderails. As shown, the front ends of the side rails 14 are provided withstops in the form of lugs or fingers 54 which project inwardly from theside rails. The lugs 54 may be formed integrally with the side rails andmay be bent inwardly therefrom. Bumpers 56 made of rubber, plastic orother soft resilient material are preferably mounted on the lugs 54 toengage the shelves. In this case, the stop lugs 54 are also employed tosupport the channel-shaped strip or molding 58 on which the price tagsor signs may be mounted.

The side rails 14 are normally long enough to hold at least two of theshelves 12. Preferably, the side rails should be long enough to holdseveral shelves. Each shelf is normally loaded at the rear of theshelving unit 10. The loaded shelf is then allowed to roll toward thefront of the shelving unit. When the front shelf is empty, it is removedfrom the front portions of the side rails 14 by one of the employees ofthe store. The other shelves on the side rails then automatically rolltoward the front, so that a fully loaded shelf will come into positionat the front of the shelving unit.

Stop or detent means are preferably provided for temporarily holdingeach shelf in the loading position at the rear of the shelving unit. Inthe illustrated construction, a detent or hump 60 is formed on thehorizontal flange 28 of each side rail 14, near the rear end thereof.The hump 60 projects upwardly from the flange 28 to a sufficient heightto retain the corresponding rear wheel of the rear-most shelf. Forloading, each shelf is placed on the rear portions of the rails 14 withthe rear wheels behind the humps 60. The shelf may then be loaded withmerchandise. When the shelf is fully loaded, one of the store employeespushes the shelf forwardly with sufficient force to cause the rearwheels to roll up and over the humps 60. The shelf then travelsforwardly by gravity until it comes into engagement with the shelf tothe front.

If there is no other shelf to the front, the newly loaded shelf rollsforwardly until it engages the bumpers 56.

The shelving unit preferably comprises a pair of return rails 64 whichare normally inclined toward the rear of the shelving unit. The returnrails 64 are otherwise the same as the rails 14. Normally, each returnrail 64 is hooked onto the front post 16 one notch higher than it ishooked onto the corresponding rear post.

Normally, the return rails 64 are mounted on the posts 16 near the lowerends thereof. Thus, the return rails 64 are at a lower elevation thanany of the upwardly inclined rails 14.

In the operation of the shelving unit 10, each shelf 12 is placed on therear portions of the side rails 14 so that the rear wheels 24 of theshelf are behind the humps 60 on the flanges 28. The height of the humpsis sufficient to prevent the shelf from rolling forwardly. The shelf isthen loaded with merchandise. The humps 60 prevent the shelf fromtraveling forwardly until it has been loaded from the rear of theshelving unit. One of the store employees then pushes the shelfforwardly so that the rear wheels 24 will roll up and over the humps 60.The shelf 12 rolls forwardly by gravity unitl it is arrested by thebumpers 56.

The merchandise on the front shelf is readily accessible to thecustomer, who gains access to the shelf by opening the glass paneldisplay door which normally is used in front of the shelving unit. Whenthe front shelf is empty, it is lifted upwardly and removed from therails 14 by one of the store employees. The loaded shelves to the rearof the front shelf then roll forwardly by gravity so that another loadedshelf comes to the front of the shelving unit. The store employeereturns the empty shelf to the rear of the shelving unit by placing theempty shelf on the return rails 64. Due to the inclination of the returnrails 64, the empty shelf rolls to the rear. Within the cooler orcabinet, one of the store employees may remove the empty shelves fromthe return rails 64 so that the empty shelves may again be used.

Normally, each shelving unit has two or more pairs of side rails 14 sothat two or more tiers of shelves may be employed. The spacing betweenthe tiers of shelves may be adjusted in accordance with the height ofthe merchandise to be displayed. Normally, the side rails 14 are longenough to support several of the rolling shelves 12 so that the shelvesmove as a train along the rails. In this way, a large stock of themerchandise may be kept on the shelves, ready for purchase by thecustomers. As soon as each shelf is empty, it is removed from the frontof the shelving unit and returned to the rear along the return rails 64so that it may be reloaded with merchandise.

In addition to stiffening the side rails 14, the ribs 32 projectinwardly to serve as guides for the merchandise. Thus, if any of themerchandise is off-center on the shelves so that the merchandise engagesone of the side rails, the corresponding rib 32 minimizes the frictionbetween the merchandise and the side rail.

Various other modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalentsmay be employed without departing from the true spirit and scope of theinvention, as exemplified in the foregoing description and defined inthe following claims.

We claim:

1. In a shelving unit, the combination comprising:

a plurality of shelves,

each shelf having a plurality of wheels on each side thereof, I

at least one pair of side rails for supporting said wheels,

means for supporting said side rails at an inclined angle so that saidshelves will roll by gravity along said side rails to the lower endsthereof, an additional pair of return rails for supporting the wheels ofempty shelves placed on said return rails,

and means supporting said return rails in vertically spaced relation tosaid side rails and inclined in the opposite direction relative to theinclination of said side rails for returning the empty shelves bygravity in said opposite direction.

2. In a shelving unit, the combination comprising:

a plurality of shelves,

each shelf having a plurality of wheels on each side thereof,

at least one pair of side rails for supporting said wheels,

means for supporting said side rails at an inclined angle so that saidshelves will roll by gravity along said side rails to the lower endsthereof,

and an additional pair of return rails mounted in vertically spacedrelation to said side rails for supporting the wheels of empty shelvesfor return movement in the opposite direction relative to the directionof movement 6f the shelves on said side rails.

3. The combination according to claim 1, comprising: 3

stop means at the lower ends of said side rails for retaining saidshelves on the lower end portions of said side rails,

said shelves being removable manually from the lower end portions ofsaid side rails,

and a detent on at least one of said side rails adjacent the higher endthereof for detaining one of the wheels of one of said shelves to holdthe shelf temporarily in a position adjacent the higher ends of saidrails.

4. The combination according to claim 1, comprising:

bumpers at the lower ends of said side rails for arresting the movementof said shelves along said side rails,

and a hump projecting upwardly from at least one of said side rails nearthe upper end thereof for temporarily detaining one wheel of one of saidshelves to hold said shelf in a loading position,

each shelf being removable manually from the lower end portions of saidrails.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,599,227 9/1926 Gantvoort2l416.4 1,915,249 6/ 1933 Jorgensen 248-345.1 1,975,327 10/1934 Loney211-151 XR 2,443,871 6/1948 Shield 211--71 XR 2,776,030 1/1957 Bush211-182 XR 2,891,677 6/1959 Ritchie 211-151 XR 2,971,655 2/1961 Duboffet a1 211162 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 1,141,231 12/1962 Germany.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner.

